SMS API Cost Comparison (US)

US outbound, 1 segment per message. Twilio $0.0083, Telnyx Local/10DLC $0.004 per part ($0 platform fee; first 100M parts $0.004, next 150M $0.002), Plivo long/short code $0.0077 or toll-free $0.0079 — each plus the same carrier fee blend (Telnyx's page example blend is $0.0038; Twilio's Big-3 average ≈ $0.00433; Plivo lists AT&T $0.0035, T-Mobile $0.0045, Verizon $0.005, US Cellular & other $0.005). Verify layer: SMS = started × attempts; Twilio Verify adds $0.05 per successful verification. Worked example: 20k signups × 1.3 SMS × 90% → Twilio Verify ≈ $1,116 before carrier vs Telnyx raw ≈ 26,000 × ($0.004 + $0.0038) ≈ $203. Number rent not included (Twilio $1.15 / $2.15, Plivo $0.50 / $1 per month long code / toll-free). Vonage and MessageBird are not listed because their official pages were not cleanly re-read on 2026-11-02.

Estimates only. Official list prices as of 2026-11-02 (Asia/Shanghai); the provider's pricing page prevails. Sources: Twilio SMS pricing · Twilio Verify pricing · Telnyx messaging pricing · Plivo SMS pricing (US)

Twilio Verify Cost Calculator · Twilio SMS Cost Calculator (US) · Transactional Email API Cost Comparison · Amazon SES Cost Calculator · Resend Cost Calculator